PHOENIX -- None of the three Dodgers ejected from Wednesday night's loss in San Diego had received word of disciplinary action from Major League Baseball vice president Bob Watson as of Friday afternoon. The club is expecting fines, but not suspensions.

Pitcher Brad Penny maintained that the mound rhubarb was triggered by home-plate umpire Rick Reed's inflammatory comments aimed at second baseman Jeff Kent when he approached the mound, where manager Grady Little was speaking with Penny, Kent and catcher Russell Martin. Reed apparently heard Kent complaining about his strike zone calls and responded with what Penny called "derogatory comments."

After Little came off the mound to calm Reed, the manager returned to the mound meeting and left Penny in the game. After a complaint by Padres manager Bruce Bochy and an umpires' huddle, it was ruled that Little's action constituted a second trip to the mound.

As Reed applied the rule, Penny was to face one more batter, then be automatically removed because of the infraction. Before that could happen, Penny was ejected for complaining to Reed about his strike zone.

Little said Reed applied the rule properly, although that isn't clear from the wording of a portion of Rule 8.06:

"In a case where a manager has made his first trip to the mound and then returns the second time to the mound in the same inning with the same pitcher in the game and the same batter at bat, after being warned by the umpire that he cannot return to the mound, the manager shall be removed from the game and the pitcher required to pitch to the batter until he is retired or gets on base. After the batter is retired, or becomes a baserunner, then this pitcher must be removed from the game. The manager should be notified that his pitcher will be removed from the game after he pitches to one hitter, so he can have a substitute pitcher warmed up."

Since Little was never warned before returning to the mound, the rule states that the pitcher must be removed from the game immediately, but Penny wasn't. Little was ejected, but not for ignoring a warning about returning to the mound. He was ejected for arguing after the ruling was explained to him.

Little conceded that he did leave the mound, but he did so only to diffuse a volatile situation, and that the rule is designed to prevent a manager from changing his mind or strategy and making two separate visits, not one interrupted by a fracas.

Penny's temper: Penny was also ejected for arguing, but Little defended his pitcher's behavior within the context of how the game unfolded: in other words, Reed's strike zone.

"I think [Penny] has done an outstanding job working on [his temper] and is getting better," Little said. "He and I talked a lot about it. I think it's helped his performance on the mound tremendously. It was just one of those days where, you see it as a club and we saw it during the stretch after the All-Star break. We didn't get any calls.

"The way the game was going the other day, Brad was making marginal pitches and he felt none were going his way."

Martin's slump: Martin came into Friday night's game 1-for-20 on the trip, but he doesn't buy the argument that he's wearing down in his first Major League season.

"It's a little bit of a slump, that's all," said Martin. "I don't feel bad. I'm not really pressing. I just have to turn it up a notch and change my approach."

He said he has a tendency to try to swing too hard.

"I have to get back to just putting the barrel on the ball and not trying to generate power," he said. "I've had a few bad games in a row. When I try to hit for power, I pull off the ball. That's what I feel, not that I'm tired."

Little said he hadn't noticed the slump, because Martin was hitting a lot of hard shots for outs.

"But once in a while," Little said, "he gets in home-run mode and you see a different swing. That's pretty common."

Hawaii Winter League: The Hawaii Winter Baseball League (HWB) returns after a nine-year hiatus, and the Dodgers will place six of their prospects and a coach on the North Shore Honu of the HWB Eastern Division -- infielders Cory Dunlap and Blake Dewitt, catcher Tony Harper, outfielder Xavier Paul, right-handed pitcher Zach Hammes, left-handed pitcher Wesley Wright and pitching coach Glenn Dishman.

Coming up: Derek Lowe (11-8, 3.84 ERA) opposes Miguel Batista (10-5, 4.52) on Saturday night at 6:40 PT at Chase Field.